HO CHI MINH CITY - The World Cup tournament in Ho Chi Minh has already made the record books with its super high runs. Two Koreans were among the star players with runs of 19 and 17 in the past days, but even more sensational was the final sprint of Nikos Polychronopoulos in his match against Dani Sánchez: the 38-year-old Greek billiard room owner from Athens finished it off with 22 and turned the 26-18 in favor of the Spanish number two of the world into a 40-30 victory in 11 innings.
On the first day of the main tournament, the spotlights mainly focused on the Greek champion, who had to sit through the 19 run of Hyun Min Seo a day earlier, but now showed the crowded stands in Ho Chi Minh that he is a great specialist in position playing and scoring under pressure himself. ,,I felt the tension when I played my last three, four caroms'', the Greek explained later, when he was gradually overwhelmed by responses and whatsapps from his country or from other friends.
The main conclusion after his performance is that Polychronopoulos returns to the top twelve of the world after being away for five years and then losing his position in the years after his second place at the World championship in Sankt Wendel in 2006, where he played the final against Eddy Merckx. Poly's comment after his match was modest as always: ,,I'm not a man of big words, I just want to play billiards on a high level and stay grounded.''
The super finish, of course, made him very hapy. ,,I can't count all the messages on my phone'', he said. The congratulations came most of all from his billiard center, the Europe billiard club in Athens, where many of his fans followed the match on Kozoom.
He realizes that the 'Poly' of these years, with his great performance at the World championships for teams in Viersen and victories in three Greek Grand Prix tournaments in a row, is stronger than he was ever before. Searching for an explanation, he says: ,,Two friends are helping me in my billiard room, that's why I have more time for playing billiards. Moreover, I became stronger by playing in foreign leagues, the leagues in Germany and the Netherlands.'' The final run of 22 was not his best ever: Polychronopoulos made 23 in his first inning, four years ago in Istanbul against Tonny Carlsen.
The Greek is a master of speed and position playing, isn't it Torbjörn Blomdahl? ,,I don't know, but he just doesn't miss'', said the Swede. And Dani Sánchez, his opponent today. ,,I played fairly well myself, with 2,700 ... but Nikos was even better.''
The apotheosis of the day came after four rounds in which Torbjörn Blomdahl (14 innings), Jung Han Heo and Quoc Nguyen Nguyen (16), Marco Zanetti and Dick Jaspers (17) were the other high level finishers and Dani Sánchez, Eddy Merckx, Tayfun Tasdemir, Dong Koong Kang and Murat Naci Coklu the most notable players who had to leave the tournament.
Nikos Polychronopoulos and Dani Sänchez hug each other after the match
Dani Sánchez can't hide his disappointment after Poly's high-run match
HaengJik Kim, who started 8-0, survived the trench war against Merckx, who later took the lead in the match, but was 40-38 down when he missed his last point from the spots. Lütfi Cenet, against Marco Zanetti, was an even more painful loser: the Turk had to make seven in the equalizer, but stumbled over his last point.
Torbjörn Blomdahl, after his win over Pedro Piedrabuena (40-26 in 14), was delighted: ,,I didn't feel a good form the last months, actually since the World championship in Bordeaux. Before this World Cup, there were even days when I couldn't make points at all, so I'm very happy with this first match.'' Frédéric Caudron, who is in a super form already for months with top averages in the Belgian Grand Prix tournaments, had a difficult start against Christian Rudolph today: 22-16 behind after twenty innings. The first real attack, after 25 innings, (nine run) paved the way to victory: 40-33 in 31.
The Asian players invasion still counts four Vietnamese and four Koreans in the last sixteen after the first day. The Belgians are with two: Caudron and Forthomme, the Turks have only Can Capak left, who defeated Adnan Yüksel (40-27 in 23). Two World Cup winners of last year, Tayfun Tasdemir and Murat Naci Coklu were eliminated by the Korean Jung Han Heo and the Vietnamese Minh Cam Ma.
Two matches deserve to be in the spotlights: Polychronopoulos-Sánchez (40-30 in 11) and Zanetti-Cenet (40-39 in 17). The American Piedrabuena may return home, defeated by Blomdahl. The Colombian wild card holder and star in his country, Robinson Morales, had a promising start against Korean Jae Ho Cho (leading 21-10), but was caught half way and eliminated 40-29 in 24.
Dick Jaspers launched his World Cup very well with a win over Vinh Ly The (40-16 in 17), Quoc Nguyen Nguyen outplayed one of the stars from the previous rounds, the young Korean Jung Ju Shin 40-17 in 16, Jung Han Heo was the much better player than Tayfun Tasdemir, 40-26 in 16, Sameh Sidhom impressed against Oh Bok Cho (40-31 in 25) and Quan Hao Truong is enjoying a longer stay in the tournament by a victory over Hyun Min Seo, the Korean who shone with 19 on the previous day.
The Vietnamese Quang Hao Truong shows his joy to the public after his win over Hyun Min Seo
Haengjik Kim defeated Eddy Merckx by one carom
Can Capak is the only Turk left in the tournament after he beat Adnan Yüksel
Tayfun Tasdemir is out after one round in the tournament he won last year
The Colombian star player Robinson Morales, back home after one match, a loss against Jae Ho Cho
The matches for the eighth-finals:
11.00, Vietnamese time:
Torbjörn Blomdahl-Hyung-Kon Kim
Sameh Sidhom-Marco Zanetti
Jae Ho Cho-Jung Han Heo
Anh Vu Duong-Frédéric Caudron
13.00:
Dick Jaspers-Quang Hao Truong
HaengJik Kim-Minh Cam Ma
Roland Forthomme-Quoc Nguyen Nguyen
Can Capak-Nikos Polychronopoulos.
The Vietnamese Minh Cam Ma after his win against Murat Naci Coklu
THE OPENING CEREMONY AT HO CHI MINH'S WORLD CUP
